Brief Chat: Stars of 2012 Millrose Games

Bernard Lagat, Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury, Morgan UcenyReported by Peter GambacciniPhoto of Bernard Lagat by Victah Sailer; photo of Jenny Simpson by Jane Monti/Race Results WeeklyThis Chat is compiled from postrace comments by athletes at Saturday's Millrose Games at the Armory in New York. (To see a Millrose photo slideshow, click here[3].)

[4]Bernard Lagat set a new American record of 13:07.15 for 5000 meters indoors in a race in which Lawi Lalang, the runner-up, set a new college record of 13:08.28. Both of them broke records by Galen Rupp. The 5000 also featured a new national high-school record of 13:57.04 by Edward Cheserek.Bernard, just speak about the record.Bernard Lagat: I am really pleased that the aim of coming here has been achieved. We came here with one aim, to break the American record. And I felt really strong, coming in. Last week was a little tough for me in terms of training. I didn't want to say anything at the press conference yesterday (Friday), but when I came back from the race for the mile at Madison Square Garden (on January 28), I picked up something on the airplane or something and didn't feel good that week. But I kept resting a lot and Coach (James) Li told me that "let's rest up, the most important race is the 5000," and it was executed so well with the guys in front of me. Bolota (Asmerom) did a great job, Ben Bruce did a very very good job (Asmerom and Bruce were "rabbits"). And then Lawi helping out and Stephen Sambu helping out, and then I told the guys "okay, let me help out," I think it was with six laps to go.So it was teamwork tonight, because we all wanted one thing, to get those records. I am so pleased we had three records tonight--actually four, with a Mexican national record by my training partner, Juan Luis Barrios (13:23.61 in seventh). It was a great race.And you had to think about just winning it toward the end, didn't you?BL: Oh yes. Like I said, when I was making those jokes the other day (about worrying about Lawi Lalang), they weren't really jokes because I knew the capabilities of my training partner here (Lalang). And he's a student, he's still learning. He's almost like my student in terms of racing because he looks up to me in the way I train and the way I compete. He has mastered already the training ....He was a legitimate contender today, and if he had won it, I would be saluting him. And I actually salute him very much, because he got the (college) record, 13:08. He broke it by ten seconds. So that is a great achievement.Talk about the strategies mapped out by Coach Li.BL: I'm going to let Coach Li talk about that.James Li: On all the legs on the flight coming over from Seattle, I just couldn't sleep and I took out a piece of paper and just worked out every lap, the details, how I think it could go from the beginning, what pace it could be, where they could slow down a little bit, where they had to pick up.... They (Lagat and Lalang) got a better kick and it really worked out to the T. We planned 13:07, and that's what we did.Do you consider yourself a marked man anymore?BL: Yes. My (U.S. indoor two-mile) record just was broken. 8:09, he (Galen Rupp) ran (in Arkansas). I ran 8:10 (in New York in 2011). I broke his record and he broke my record. That is healthy in terms of our sport here in America. I am so proud of Galen Rupp .... He's an inspiring guy (Rupp's 8:09.72 bettered Lagat's two-mile mark of 8:10.07).Do you know about the fast times in Germany this morning?BL: Yes, 12:58 (12:58.67 by Thomas Longosiwa of Kenya in Dusseldorf). But you know, I always keep it realistic. I wanted to think of me running 13:05 or 13:07. Two weeks ago, I said I feel like I'm in 13:05 shape. That is correct. I'm not going to tell myself I'm in 12:50-something shape, 'cause I'm not. So I'm pleased with it today .... I wanted to run a race that I felt like I could handle, and I handled it tonight.-----Jenny Simpson, the 2011 World Champion for 1500 meters, won the NYRR Wanamaker Women's Metric Mile in 4:07.27, with 2009 World Championships bronze medalist Shannon Rowbury second in

[5] 4:07.66.So letting nobody but the pacesetter get ahead of you is the way to run these indoor 1500s, isn't it?Jenny Simpson: Yeah. To my recollection, it's the way it went here last year when I raced in the Armory (and ran the year's fastest women's mile in the U.S.). It's worked in the past. And Shannon (Rowbury), of course spoke to it; we all know whoever has the rail with the last kick really does have an advantage .... I knew I was going to have to run really hard the last 400 meters, but when I got around that bend and heard the bell go (with 200 meters left), I felt, "Okay, I just need to run super-hard and stay on the rail." It's hard to be able to get around me. It's a good feeling. I think I made the right decision, tactically, to stay out front, but it was definitely a hard way to run. It was really tough the last 800 meters.You said you felt the presence of the other women. You don't even have to look around to see them, but you sort of feel they're there, right?JS: The Armory is a little bit unique. Because of the lighting, you can see shadows a lot more. I tend to really not pay attention to a lot of things around me and not look at the (infield) screen where they show the runners on the board. But even if you're not looking at that, with the shadows on the track you can see if somebody's right behind you. Yeah, I was being chased by shadows the whole way.This comes after a disappointing 3000 in Boston last week.JS: It was really important for me to not let that race put me down and make me less confident about my fitness. I mean, 4:07 isn't even near what I think I'm capable of (in the 1500), but in February, it's a really fast time. It's so important when you're a runner and you have a bad race to be able to close the door and say, "That's over, it's done, it doesn't really say 100 percent about all of my training." It definitely gave me a lot of feedback, but I didn't want it to let me down and make me hesitant today. And like I said, I think my tactics were a big part of the win today.You said you wanted to be aggressive. Do you feel like you accomplished that?JS: I do. As much as I was saying that, my coach called this morning--she and I spoke several times--and she said, "Listen, forget about all that, forget about the being aggressive, forget about running on the pacemaker, forget about all this stuff. Just race and just do what you love to do," and sometimes it is really good to have people remind you of that. As much as you want to be good, sometimes you just to remember you love it and you can't force it.-----Shannon Rowbury, the 2009 World Championships 1500-meter bronze medalist, was second in the NYRR Wanamaker Women's Metric Mile in 4:07.66Rowbury explained: "The pace was a little slower than I had wanted, but it was moving, so it sort of strung out. Nicole Sifuentes kept trying to come in and kept stepping on Isabel's (Macias') heels. Then, when I was finally able to get clear, I wanted to go but I couldn't quite get it in time and tried to go on the last straight. But if you've got that indoor advantage of the rail (as Jenny Simpson did), it's hard to make that up. I was with it until the last 20 or 30 meters and I think that's just a matter of coming from behind and having it being in February and not being super-sharp."As time goes on and you feel sharper, might you want to be somebody who leads all the way like Jenny did?Shannon Rowbury: Yeah, I wanted to try to do that today. And the way that the chips settled, I was where I was at. But going into the race, I was fully prepared to lead if I needed to. I wasn't sure whether people would go with the rabbit or not.How'd you feel coming off of altitude?SR: I feel very strong. I felt in the 3k (in Boston the week before) just unsure of where I fitness was at because I've only been at 6500 feet trying to run. I felt great today. Like I said, I just couldn't get that little extra oomph to get by at the end, but I felt awesome.Do you want to pop in another race pretty soon?SR: Yeah, after the 3k, I was so frustrated. I want another opportunity to get in the 8:40s (for that distance). I wish that U.S. nationals (in Albuquerque) weren't at altitude so I'd have a chance to run fast there. It's hard for distance runners, the way that it's set up. Yeah, the 1500 as well, it makes me want to go out and do it again, kind of fine-tune. But I've learned a lot from these two races and it gets me fired up for the upcoming months.When would you normally get in the speedwork that would help you in that last 100?SR: I don't even know. April, or something .... Most of our intervals have been long tempos--2ks, 1ks on the track, stuff like that. But I haven't done a single 400 or 200. I'm really happy with this performance, given that.----Morgan Uceny, the #1 ranked 1500-meter runner in the world in 2011, won the 800 at Millrose in 2:03.35.Some of the women--like Shannon Rowbury, in particular--have talked about having strength at this time of year, and that's why they ran the 3000 at Boston. But you ran the 1000 there and now an 800 here. But you're not doing a lot of speedwork at this time of year, are you?MU: No. The focus is still on strength for me as well. I did want to run a 3k early on, but I didn't want to run as early as (Seattle) Washington and I'm not going to just jump in with (Meseret) Defar to try and run a 3k (in Boston). I decided to focus on the 800 just to take some of the mental pressure off the year and have fun with what I'm doing. And you can't really expect to have top speed at this time of year.There was talk about the American indoor record (1:58.71 by Nicole Teter), but you weren't thinking about that, were you?MU: I honestly think that if I was in the right situation, I could run the American record. But that's like me chasing the rabbit without having to worry about competitors. Terrence (Mahon, her coach) made sure the focus was on trying to win and not being a rabbit for everybody else--which I kind of was in the end.What are your plans for the rest of the indoor season?MU: From here, I'm going straight to Birmingham (England) with my teammate, Anna Pierce. I'm going to run another 800. She'll be running a 1500. And in Stockholm, I'll be running 1500. The dates are the 18th (of February) and the 23rd.Will you do USA Indoors?MU: No, I don't think so. I don't think Albuquerque is conducive to trying to run well. No middle-distance runner has a chance of winning the VISA Championship series.